IF THE proposed ordinance will be passed in the city council, heavy trucks, buses and vans will be required to install a dashboard camera also known as dashcam if they use the roads in Davao City.
Councilor Maria Belen Acosta, Committee on peace and public safety, presented before the council the importance and benefits in using dashcam as it will capture car accidents, aid illegal disputes and spread awareness on improper road behavior.
“In a discussion with Mayor Sara Durterte-Carpio, she mentioned that other countries have already implemented laws requiring trucks to have dashcams,” Acosta said, adding that it prompted her committee to propose such an ordinance.
“The most serious injuries and fatalities most often occur in accidents involving vehicles such as trucks, buses and vans, due to their weight, speed and number of passengers,” she said.
From January to November 2018, the Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) reported a total of more than 13,000 vehicular accidents which involved damage to properties, injuries and fatalities.
“In many cases, the accident happens in the blink of an eye which makes the main cause of the incident difficult to determine due to lack of available information,” Acosta said.
Meanwhile, Acosta told reporters that their committee may study an ordinance requiring all private and public vehicles to install dashcams, however, they will just have to start with what is feasible and more dangerous.
She said that dashcam is a tool to help pinpoint the cause of accidents, or at least serve as evidence to hasten legal action as it could also record activities of rude and abusive drivers.